Sunday, 10 March 2013

On a cold day, the experience of sitting under a warm kotatsu is like heaven... at least, it is until the electricity bill arrives.

In light of such a bill, Haruka decides that it's time to be more "eco-friendly", which is of course nothing to do with being cheap at all - a decision which leaves Kana and Chiaki figuring out other ways to save the environment; and of course some cash. While sharing body heat to keep warm is all good and well (if a little too much for Mako), it doesn't work particularly efficiently when someone is hogging the duvet, so before we know it Chiaki has come down with a cold at the worst possible time, that being the day as a planned "snack party". With her friends rallying around bringing food-based gifts that they believe should help her recovery, we end up having a party anyway, albeit one which revolves around sukiyaki rather than snacks.

From here, Haruka's insistence upon eco-friendly living sees Takeru effectively press-ganged into inviting the Minami family out to dinner, which is course an expensive mistake to make, before the episode closes out with Mako having another visual overload as "she" walks into the midst of a "pyjama day" which proves to be an over-bearing strain on his senses.

One or two little moments aside, this certainly wasn't Minami-ke at its funniest, getting by instead on that sense of light-hearted entertainment that pervades everything it does to make for a soothing start to any day, whether it involves the copious wearing of pyjamas or not (and that sure is tempting on a lazy Sunday). Even when it isn't firing on all cylinders, I get the feeling I'm going to miss this show once it's gone from my viewing schedule again even if it isn't an outright classic.